Dear all,

I have an M.Sc. in Computer Science from UChicago. I graduated with a great GPA under 2 years ago, and did some minor research projects during my masters degree.

I am now doing something entirely irrelevant and have always wanted to continue my PhD, but because of personal circumstances I could not pursue this dream, until now.

However, I am worried. I feel like I don't know where to start: Should I look into those areas that I truly loved and start reading papers like crazy to narrow down my research interests? Should I simply start with some unpaid research assistantship somewhere? Should I look at emerging areas in computer science?

Where do I start? Because this is an overwhelmingly scary place that I am in right now: I know that this is what I want to do, and I do not want to fail or get into a substandard program or get into a rigorous program that I cannot measure up to or.... It's all too worrisome.

I am now 25 years old, and I feel like time is running out. I am currently working in the banking sector and I've been working at my job for 9 months now, and I know I will never fit into the corporate world. I love academia, and love research, but I never believed in myself or my abilities.

I'm all eyes/ears.